Barbara Walters will serve as emcee for
an event marking the one year anniversary of “Don't Ask, Don't
Tell” repeal and honoring Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The September 18 event, titled
Celebrating Our Heroes, will take place aboard the Intrepid
Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City and is hosted by
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), OutServe and the
Interbank Roundtable Committee (IRC).

Mullen, who played a key leadership
role in repeal of the military policy which for 18 years banned gay
troops from serving openly, will be honored at the event.

“The addition of Barbara Walters as
our emcee for the evening makes an already exciting lineup even more
spectacular. It's only fitting that America's most influential and
accomplished journalist – who has made history herself a time or
two – would join us for this historic and emotional event,”
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN, said in a statement.